OCTOBER TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL IN MUCH OF U.S., NOAA REPORTS;
JANUARY THROUGH OCTOBER WARMEST ON RECORD

November 13, 2000  The average
October 2000 surface temperature in the United States was above
normal but far from a record, according to statistics calculated
by NOAA scientists working
from the world's largest statistical weather database at NOAA's National Climatic Data
Center in Asheville, N.C. (Click image for larger view.)

The
average October temperature, based on preliminary reports, was
55.8 F, which is 1.0 F warmer than the 106-year average, making
it the 25th warmest October since records began in 1895. Temperatures
were near normal for the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest,
and West while the rest of the country experienced above normal
temperatures. Heavy precipitation brought relief to the drought-stricken
Southern Plains and Southwest, while many cities throughout the
Southeast received no rainfall in October. The Southeast region
experienced it's second driest October on record, and this lack
of rainfall in an already dry region, led to numerous wildfires
throughout North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.

Although
the average October temperature was far from record-breaking
in the U.S., the abnormally warm conditions observed earlier
this year made the January-October 2000 average temperature (58.1
F) the warmest such ten-month period on record. Thirteen of the
past 15 January-October periods have been above average and have
contributed to a temperature rise of 1.0F/century since records
began in 1895. Every state in the contiguous U.S., except Maine,
Vermont, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia
was warmer than normal, with most of the country west of the
Mississippi River much above normal. This was the warmest January-October
on record for New Mexico, Texas and Utah. It was the second warmest
for Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming. Data collected by
NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and analyzed by NASA
and the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville also indicate that temperatures in the
lower half of the atmosphere (lowest 8 km) were the warmest on
record (1979-2000) over the U.S. for the year-to-date period.

States
in the South and Southeast were much drier than normal including
Florida which experienced its driest year-to-date period. Conversely,
wetter than normal conditions prevailed in the Northeast, East
North Central, and West North Central. For the nation, January
- October 2000 was the 24th driest such period since 1895.